2008 Woodie Awards
All-nighters = lower grades
Briana Byrd - The Daily Iowan
Issue date: 12/17/07 Section: Metro
- Page 1 of 1
Pulling all-nighters might not be the best way to go when studying for finals this week, a newly released study shows.
Students who never stayed up all night studying maintained higher grade-point averages when compared with those who did, according to a recent study performed on 111 students at St. Lawrence University in northern New York.
The study, conducted by Pamela Thacher, an assistant professor of psychology at St. Lawrence, found that students who did not pull all-nighters on average had an average of a 3.1 GPA, while those who did had a 2.9.
"It's very clear that when you sleep, the information you learn is consolidated," said Richard Hazeltine, a UI assistant professor of psychology. "There are a fair number of studies showing that people learn a lot better when they sleep on something. It's often more than just exhaustion that causes bad performance."
Without taking the time to process the information learned, students won't have the time or ability to incorporate it into their knowledge database, said UI psychology Professor Mark Blumberg. Making connections with every-day experiences can help individuals recall information.
Although procrastination tends to be associated with lower grades, the study showed that it was not a factor for most students who chose to pull all-nighters.
However, when students do procrastinate, pulling all-nighters can become an option.
"As an isolated thing, done once in a while, cramming may be an OK last-ditch approach, but if you're worried about learning in the long term, than consistent regular studying habits are clearly the best," Hazeltine said.
According to the National Sleep Foundation, sleep deprivation can negatively affect learning, attention, and control of impulsive emotional reactions.
"There have been a number of studies on sleep deprivation showing that there is definite temporary cognitive impairment," said Daniel O'Leary, a UI psychiatry professor.
Studying for long periods of time can also disrupt how efficiently one learns, Hazeltine said.
He suggested studying for shorter periods over a long duration of time.
"My strong recommendation is to break up your studying, start early, and not wear yourself out with really long study periods," he said. "I think studying for 30 minutes or an hour in short stints is much more efficient and a better way to learn."
Fears of failure motivate some students to study during the day.
"I have never pulled an all-nighter myself, but I have heard horror stories of people staying up all night and doing poorly on tests," UI freshman Beth Patten said. "My mom told me that there's a balance between sleep and studying. If you do more of one than the other, your tests scores will suffer."
E-mail DI reporter Briana Byrd at:
briana-byrd@uiowa.edu
Students who never stayed up all night studying maintained higher grade-point averages when compared with those who did, according to a recent study performed on 111 students at St. Lawrence University in northern New York.
The study, conducted by Pamela Thacher, an assistant professor of psychology at St. Lawrence, found that students who did not pull all-nighters on average had an average of a 3.1 GPA, while those who did had a 2.9.
"It's very clear that when you sleep, the information you learn is consolidated," said Richard Hazeltine, a UI assistant professor of psychology. "There are a fair number of studies showing that people learn a lot better when they sleep on something. It's often more than just exhaustion that causes bad performance."
Without taking the time to process the information learned, students won't have the time or ability to incorporate it into their knowledge database, said UI psychology Professor Mark Blumberg. Making connections with every-day experiences can help individuals recall information.
Although procrastination tends to be associated with lower grades, the study showed that it was not a factor for most students who chose to pull all-nighters.
However, when students do procrastinate, pulling all-nighters can become an option.
"As an isolated thing, done once in a while, cramming may be an OK last-ditch approach, but if you're worried about learning in the long term, than consistent regular studying habits are clearly the best," Hazeltine said.
According to the National Sleep Foundation, sleep deprivation can negatively affect learning, attention, and control of impulsive emotional reactions.
"There have been a number of studies on sleep deprivation showing that there is definite temporary cognitive impairment," said Daniel O'Leary, a UI psychiatry professor.
Studying for long periods of time can also disrupt how efficiently one learns, Hazeltine said.
He suggested studying for shorter periods over a long duration of time.
"My strong recommendation is to break up your studying, start early, and not wear yourself out with really long study periods," he said. "I think studying for 30 minutes or an hour in short stints is much more efficient and a better way to learn."
Fears of failure motivate some students to study during the day.
"I have never pulled an all-nighter myself, but I have heard horror stories of people staying up all night and doing poorly on tests," UI freshman Beth Patten said. "My mom told me that there's a balance between sleep and studying. If you do more of one than the other, your tests scores will suffer."
E-mail DI reporter Briana Byrd at:
briana-byrd@uiowa.edu
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
John
posted 12/17/07 @ 3:49 PM CST
Where's the evidence for causation?
It seems to me that those who pull all-nighters are likely to be those who have procrastinated or not kept up with work during the course of the semester. (Continued…)
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